10 things you need to know today

A
member of the guard of honor is attended by colleagues after
fainting before Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto's inspection
at the Citadelle in Quebec City, Canada.Reuters/Mathieu
Belanger

Here is what you need to know.

European stocks are roaring back. Stock markets
across Europe are higher by more than 2%, led by a 3% gain in
Spain's IBEX. Overnight, China's Shanghai Composite (+0.6%) led
and Australia's ASX (-0.7%) lagged. S&P 500 futures are
higher by 21.75 points at 2,006.75.

The pound is seeing a bounce. The British pound is
higher by 0.8% at 1.3330 as trade repairs some of the damage
caused by Thursday's Brexit decision. Over the past few sessions
the currency had tumbled about 11% from its Thursday high near
1.5000.

The UK was hit with 2 downgrades S&P cut the
UK's "AAA" rating to "AA," and Fitch lowered its "AA+" rating to
"AA." Both rating agencies assigned a negative outlook. According
to a statement released by S&P, the British vote to leave the
European Union "is a seminal event, and will lead to a less
predictable, stable, and effective policy framework in the UK."

George Soros shorted Deutsche Bank. A German
regulatory filing shows that Soros Fund Management sold roughly 7
million shares of Deutsche Bank stock after the Brexit was
announced Friday, Bloomberg reports. The filing showed the short
position amounted to 0.51% of Deutsche Bank shares but didn't
have an entry price. Soros became a hedge fund legend after
shorting the British pound on Black Wednesday in 1992.

Volkswagen's emissions-scandal settlement is coming.
A source told Reuters the settlement was expected to total almost
$15 billion. The breakdown includes about $10 billion for
buybacks of polluting vehicles and about $5 billion to offset
diesel emissions. An announcement is expected Tuesday.

Google is reportedly working on a smartphone. The
search giant has licenses with a handful of companies including
LG and Huawei but is building its own smartphone, according to
The Telegraph. The report says the phones are expected to be
released by the end of the year.

Lyft has hired an investment bank. The ride-hailing
app has hired the investment bank Qatalyst Partners, The Wall
Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
The hiring has led to some speculation the firm is looking into a
sale. In its latest round of funding, which took place in
January, Lyft was valued at $5.5 billion.

Pfizer is investing in China. The pharmaceutical
giant is planning a $350 million biotech center in China. Reuters
says the facility will be built in Hangzhou and will mark the
presence of Pfizer's first biotech center in Asia. Completion is
scheduled for 2018.

US economic data flows. GDP — Third Estimate
will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET before Case-Shiller 20-city
Index and consumer confidence are due out at 9 a.m. ET and 10
a.m. ET, respectively. The US 10-year yield is up 4 basis points
at 1.48%.